Abstract

Rock and indoor climbing has become a very popular sport. For moving in a vertical or even overhanging wall an intact shoulder function is mandatory beside a good grasp function. Hand and particular finger injuries in climbing are well described in the literature. Almost no report is avaible about shoulder injuries in climbers. In our retrospective case study 21 shoulders in 20 climbers (18 male, 2 female, age 28 to 65) with open rotator cuff surgery between 1998 and 2006 were analysed. The ability of climbing before and after the operation is a main outcome control. The level of difficulty in climbing is given by the french difficulty scale ranging from three to nine whereas the top grade nine is performed by only few climbers worldwide. In 10 climbers a single shouldertrauma while in 7 a repetetive traumas and in 3 chronic overuse prevented a situation compatible with rock climbing. There are 7 complete rotator cuff lesions and 14 partial tear of the supraspinatus tendon. In all climbers an open rotator cuff surgery was done including 17 enlargement of the subacromial space and 15 tenodesis of the long head of biceps. 6 months after the operation in average the climbers started again. Average time to return in a similar level of difficulty was 16 months in all but one climber. From the point of biomechanics, pathologies of climbing and swimming shoulder are discussed. Verf.-Referat